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View Full Version : I Love the Smell of BLO in the Morning



Jim Koepke
06-03-2015, 4:59 PM
Funny that my first visit to SMC came about from searching out information on Boiled Linseed Oil.

This is a table someone commissioned me to build:

314953

It is ~26X48X32" tall.

Now my wife wants one.

jtk

Kevin Hampshire
06-03-2015, 5:38 PM
The smell of BLO made me laugh. The wife banished BLO from the house and claimed it made the cat sneeze.

I still sneak using it a little here and there but I try to air it out for a few days to weeks before bringing the piece into a civilized part of the house.

I'm not totally evil though I waited until the cat passed before using it again

george wilson
06-03-2015, 6:06 PM
My wife liked the way I smelled back when I was the Musical Instrument Maker. But she did not know what it was. Later,when I was Tool Maker,I used linseed oil one day. The smell was back!!

I don't like the smell of linseed oil on myself that much. But,there's no telling what a woman might like!

Stew Denton
06-03-2015, 8:00 PM
Hi Jim,

One more for "likes the smell of BLO." However, like George's better half, my wife does not like the smell.

The table looks good too.

Stew

Jebediah Eckert
06-03-2015, 8:37 PM
It's the smell of, I don't know, victory!

Jim Koepke
06-03-2015, 9:13 PM
Yes, Victory and Triumph over another project.

At the farmers market one person said he was attracted to our stall because he could smell the boiled linseed oil on the potting bench.

My wife, Candy. kind of likes the smell and will even do the application if she isn't busy with something else.

jtk

Stew Denton
06-03-2015, 9:54 PM
Jim,

I really like the look of the finish on the table. It really adds a lot to a pretty nice project. I assume that you used BLO with something else on top of it.

What is the lumber, and how did you finish it? I didn't realize how nice the finish of the project was until I clicked on it to expand the picture. The only way I have gotten a project that used fir or pine to look that good was to use BLO or Danish Oil under coats of something like urethane after carefully sanding the project to careful smoothness, where I carefully rounded all the edges a bit to soften the lines.

What I really like most though is the color the finish gives to the lumber, and the way the finish seems to smooth out the grain contrasts and contrasts around the knots, etc.

At any rate a very nice project.

By the way, I noticed your Route 66 sign on the wall behind the table. Every time my wife and I drive to Amarillo we go part of the way on what used to be old Route 66, and when we go to the Oklahoma City area we travel most of the way on what used to be the old Route 66 Route, about 4 hours worth in fact.

Stew

Jim Koepke
06-04-2015, 2:33 AM
Howdy Stew,

Thanks for the kind words. The Route 66 sign is a reproduction, but it was free and going to get thrown in the trash so I saved it.

The wood is all cedar. The BLO was just applied in the picture so it has a wet look. It also looks nice after being wiped down.

I am thinking of adding a top coat of tung oil to give it a bit more protection and shine.

jtk

george wilson
06-04-2015, 7:36 AM
I lived in Amarillo and went to the first grade there. Lived at 2406 S. Garfield St.. We lived in a single car garage that is no longer there,but the main house is according to Google Earth. No idea how I remember that.

Patrick Harper
06-04-2015, 7:59 AM
BLO is okay, but I prefer the smell of Shellac. The wife hates BLO and it does seem to stick around longer than with other finishes.

Prashun Patel
06-04-2015, 8:21 AM
I expect that a couple years from now, some 2015-newbie-to-the-Creek will be similarly 8500 posts in and reminiscing about how he found this place by Googling "how to restore a plane".

Circle of Life, Simba, er Jimba!

Karl Andersson
06-04-2015, 8:53 AM
My wife likes the smell of BLO, but even more pleasant to her are kerosene and the smell of a just-extinguished Zippo (the old kind with a wick). I'm working on the right balance for my new cologne.

No, not a pyromaniac - just grew up, like me, in a house with kerosene space heaters and a father who used a Zippo, so there are many memories attached to the smells. I don't know where the affinity for BLO came from; in my family, both parents painted, but not hers.

Nice table, Jim - didn't mean to ignore your fine craftsmanship. It looks a lot like the older German ones I've seen, except they have a single stretcher running through the crossed legs, connected by tusk tenons so they can be moveable. Bolts are a little easier to install, though, and just as portable. Thanks for sharing your projects - keeps me moving on my own.

Karl

Stew Denton
06-04-2015, 8:47 PM
Hi Jim,

We have aromatic red cedar in western Kansas where I grew up, it kind of looks like that, and often has pink in it. Is that aromatic red cedar, or Port Orford Cedar or some other cedar? I don't know if you have our kind of cedar out your way or not.

George, I haven't been in Amarillo in a while, but when I do get down there maybe we will get to go past your old stomping grounds.

Stew

george wilson
06-04-2015, 9:08 PM
The old stomping ground is not much to look at. Just a smallish,probably 1920's-30's house. There used to be the garage,and an outhouse and a chicken coop out back,but those seem to have gone.

Mel Fulks
06-04-2015, 9:16 PM
George, ....due to my lobbying ...the National Park Service will soon be putting in copy of the original garage and chicken coop for only $ 9,000,0057.36! Next year we will try to get money allocated for the chickens.